~ANASTASIA~I don't even know why seeing the ring made it feel so real; it felt like my marriage with William was just ending today. I guess even when I refused to admit it, I still had hoped that somehow we would fix it and get back together. I was okay with the little he gave me. I was okay with it all but this; god, I couldn't take it anymore.“Tell them, honey,” Mrs. Frost’s voice shook me out of my thoughts; I felt tears stinging the corners of my eyes.“I... I have to use the bathroom.” And with that, I ran out of there with no direction as to where I was going; I just wanted to get away from there, get away from Jimena, William, and everyone else.My heart was beating in my chest; I could hear it through my ears. God, why was I acting like I hadn't prepared for this like Jimena hadn't called me last night and told me about it? Why did it still hurt like I was just finding out today?I was lost in thoughts but sure felt it when I bumped into the wall, “Ouch!” I complained and l
~ANASTASIA~I calmed myself as much as I wanted to scream; I didn't want to attract more attention to myself.I looked up at his face with a bored expression. “What do you want, William?” I asked; he didn't respond; instead, he looked shocked, as if he wasn’t expecting me to have such courage. “Shouldn't you be with your fiancé?”“Are you jealous?”“What?” I chuckled, “Am I jealous?” I couldn't believe he was asking such a stupid question. When we were together he told me I had no right to be jealous so what a foolish question. “Why should I? I'm not your wife anymore, so who you marry is not my business.”“You're jealous,” he said with a mischievous smile. “I told you, you thought you could leave me; you're the one who drugged me so I could sleep with you. I should be the one to leave you.”“Blame game again; God, you're so sick.”“Yes, I'm sick of you. Following me around, did you think I would cancel the engagement when I see you?”“W-what?” Okay, he was out of his mind. “Let me go
~WILLIAM~I walked straight to the kitchen, went to the drink cabinet, and pulled out a bottle of whisky, and a shot glass.I walked to the kitchen counter, jumped up, and sat on it before opening the bottle and pouring the drink into the glass.I don't know what I was feeling; I mean, I should be happy that I'm marrying Jimena, that at least Anastasia would not be in our way anymore. This should be good news, but it wasn't; I wasn't happy at all. How could I be?Hudson marrying Ana? I couldn't let that happen, and the way she said it earlier sounded like she was happy.Hudson was the man she was supposed to marry, the man her family chose for her, till she decided to drug and take advantage of me. I agreed to marry her to save my fortune, and even when I was going to change my mind at the last minute, as she was a total stranger, she told me she was pregnant. I just couldn't abandon a pregnant woman.She owes me; Anastasia owes me because when her family disowned her, I accepted her.
~WILLIAM~I looked up at Jimena, who was now shaking her head in disbelief. “Jimena, I—”“Save it. Save it, William, I mean, I always knew there was something fishy about the marriage; I just didn't know it was… this?” She eyed me head to toe.“I think you're angry. Why don't we have this in the morning? The doctor said stress is not good for you, so—”“Oh, now you're pretending to care?”“What do you mean? You know how much I care for you.”“If you knew stress is not good for me, why the hell did you kiss Anastasia?”“Oh, that again…” I ran my hand through my hair. “I'm going to bed,” I said and turned to get my bottle, but before I could even get there, Jimena stopped me as she suddenly appeared in my way. God, I don't even know how she kept doing that when she was pregnant; she moved like a vampire.“I said no one is sleeping,” she said, blocking my way. I closed my eyes and calmed down as I remembered what happened the last time we had such a fight; she ended up in the hospital, a
~ANASTASIA~I woke up feeling better. Last night I thought I would lose my baby; Santiago called doctor Luke, as I couldn't afford to go to the hospital. William was too smart; he had loyal people working in hospitals, and so we knew he could have gotten the news of my pregnancy.Home, Doctor Luke checked and examined me; it turned out the wetness on my panties was harmless, my baby was fine, but he warned me to rest as the recent stress was weakening my body, which wouldn't be good for the baby.Doctor Luke recommended a few things that I was supposed to do to avoid what had happened to the report itself.So just like he said, I woke up feeling better, but since I was told to rest, Carmen insisted I stay in bed.I walked to the bathroom and took a shower while Carmen said she would be back with my breakfast.It didn't take long to finish putting myself together, as I was now done.I was on my bed and scrolling through my phone. I was bored, and even though I wanted to work, I cared f
~ANASTASIA~ My mood was suddenly ruined, as hearing Williams's name was like rubbing salt in a wound. “Ms., are you sure?” “Don't make me repeat myself; trash them!” “Go on, you know her condition; why are you making her shout?” Carmen questioned, and she quickly apologized before she picked up the bouquet and walked toward the door. “You forgot this,” I said, referring to the gift bag. She turned and then came toward the table to get it, but before she could reach it, a knock was heard on the door, making her rush to get it, which she didn't need to. But as soon as she opened the door, the person pushed her out of the way and came running to me. “Ow, Ana?” It was Vivienne. “I'm fine, Vivi; you didn't need to come here. I told you.” I said, and then eyed Carmen to leave. Vivi and I talked about things besties would talk about, things that we didn't want others to hear. If you have a best friend, you will
~ANASTASIA~Vivi looked as shocked as me; well, I was not going to fall for his games. Although this was the first he ever sent such a thoughtful gift, I was not a fool, so I looked away from Vivi.“You’re right…” Vivi said, which made me slowly turn to her, “This gift means nothing compared to what he put you through.” She said, and I nodded my head. “Oh, and that’s not the only reason I’m here.”“Okay?” I was curious as she reached into her handbag and brought out a card.“The meeting is set this afternoon at a fancy restaurant.”“What meeting?” I was confused.“Oh, we found a business investor. You know how much the company needs an investor.”“And he’s willing to invest?”Vivi nodded, confirming, “And what’s more he’s one of William's top investors. If we get him on our side, we might let’s say, convince him to leave Roger’s Enterprise; a little revenge would be helpful after what that bastard put you through.”“I don’t want revenge, Vivi; I’m the one who drugged him.”“You did?”
~ANASTASIA~I cleared my voice before I asked, “Okay?”“Should I pick up because he never calls me, so it must be you he wants to talk about?”“If you’re sure, then don’t. I don’t want him updated with what’s happening in my… life.” Vivi had ended the call before I could even finish the sentence.“Now get ready; we are getting late.” She said, and I nodded before I headed toward my closet.I was going to a work meeting, so I had to dress for business. With that, I pulled out my office skirt, a white official shirt, and a black suit jacket. After pairing with white heels, I was done as I did light makeup, and surprisingly, even after I ruined the style last night, the curls were still there, so my hair was good. I only sprayed it and made sure it had no splits.“Alright, I'm ready,” I said as I walked to the bedside table and picked up my phone while working on my wristwatch. “I hope the presentation is ready.”“Certainly not.”“What?!” I turned to her as she lazily got up from the bed
After my daughter agreed, we got in the car, and we were driven to the hospital by one of my drivers. Ivy looked so calm, and I wanted to keep it that way. I didn't know how, but I knew she had to be calm. It didn't matter if I had to give Nicole money; she couldn't be rude to my daughter.It didn't take long as we were now in the hospital's parking area. I turned to my daughter intending to ask her if she was ready, but the smile on her face told me she was, so without asking, I got out of the car and held out my hand for her.I asked if she could walk, and she said she could, then reminded me how what happened to her hours ago wasn't serious.“Son.” Mom was the first to rush to me; she hugged me, and since I was holding Ivy's hand, I only used one hand to return the hug. “I'm glad you came; I was so worried,” she said, and I nodded as I turned to Nicole, who was forcing Karen to have tea, but she refused.I knew it wouldn't be easy, as Karen already hated me. Last time she warned me
***“I can’t come now; just investigate what happened, get someone on it, and don’t leave her side. If anything happens to her, it’s on you. Get it?”“Yes, sir.”“Good, keep in touch.” With that, I ended the call and turned to Ana, who seemed to be shivering. Hudson was holding her, and I couldn’t help but blame myself for her condition.We have been waiting here for about twenty minutes now, and still no sign of a doctor. I turned to Carmen and Mrs. Grant, who both looked worried—Mrs. Grant was comforting Carmen.Carmen had been blaming me since we got here, saying I was responsible, and I didn't even try to deny it; I was. I'm the reason whatever happened to her happened. Ana hadn't said a word; she seemed too shocked to speak as her whole body was trembling, but I knew if anything happened to Ivy I wouldn't survive it, not only from her but from my guilt.How could I let Ivy walk out when she was clearly upset?I took a deep breath and was going to knock on the door when it suddenl
~WILLIAM~I was pacing around, running my hands into my hair as I thought of all the possible consequences.I didn't know whether I should go out there and confront Hudson or just remain here and be calm like Anastasia asked. I mean, going out there would make her upset because after last night’s kiss—even though she slapped me, it showed me there was hope, so I wanted to be on her good side.I was going to sit on the bed and just give it time when a thought struck my mind. Hudson said he was going to take a shower; what if Anastasia decided to join him? I couldn't allow that, so I made my way to the door, but before I could reach it, my phone started ringing, and since I was expecting a call from James, I reached into my pocket, and surprisingly, it was my sister, Nicole.I didn't understand how she was calling me when I blocked her and was going to press the ignore button when I realized the call was coming from my social media company account; I picked up as I thought it was urgent
Carmen wiped her tears while staring at her daughter's photo. She told me her name was Daniella, or Dani for short.Hudson was explaining the details about her life; “She works at a restaurant, never went to college, has no kids, and has no friends. She rents an apartment in town and doesn’t have a boyfriend.” Everything Hudson said sounded so sad; Daniella's life seemed lonely. No boyfriend or friends? I mean, he didn't need to add that she had no family, as that was obvious.“This is my fault.”“Carmen…”“I abandoned her; it's because of me that she doesn't go to college, that she's this lonely.”“None of it is your fault, Carmen.” I said as I rubbed her back in a comforting way, “You made a mistake; no one is perfect.” I said, and it seemed to make her better as she wiped her tears even though more kept coming—at least she was trying.Hudson was truly helpful as he explained how kind the daughter was; if I hadn't followed the details from the reports, I would think he knew her as a
Carmen and I were now in the living room; Ivy asked for William, and I showed her to William's room, so she went to him. “Should I get you coffee? Tea?”“No, we already had breakfast. We arrived last night; Mrs. Grant gave us a guest room.”“Oh, with Ivy?” I was just curious about how Ivy didn't insist on coming to me.“Yes, she was asleep when we arrived. Now tell me about you. How are you?”“I'm fine; it's not the first time. I'm used to it. Comes with being a heiress, your life is everyone's business.”“I know…” she looked around before she whispered, “Mrs. Frost was at the house; she was very upset.”“She called me.”“I'm so sorry, Ana. I know this is not what you pictured your married life to be.”“It's okay, I'm on it. How's Dad? How's everyone?” I just wanted to focus on spending a day with my daughter and Carmen.“They are all worried about you. Santiago is stressed; you know this is all on him.”“I know, I actually don't know if I sho
~ANASTASIA~I turned as the voices disturbed me; I kept turning and turning, trying to ignore the voices for a moment. I thought it was a dream, but when I heard Hudson’s voice, I quickly sat up—Hudson had never appeared in my dreams before, so it wasn’t a dream.“You’re not coming in. I told you she’s not here.” Okay, that was Williams' voice. I don’t know if Hudson was really here; I mean, he could have called me; he could have texted to ask if it was okay for him to come, so getting out of bed, I walked toward the door, picking the robe that was on the couch; and putting it on, I exited the room.“She’s my wife. I have every right to be here.” I could see William standing at the door, clearly stopping someone from entering, and with Hudson’s voice, there was no doubt it was him.“What’s going on here, Hudson? What are you—what are you doing here?” I asked, shocked, as I fixed the robe.“I came to see you; you’re my wife, remember?” He sounded awkward as he kept looking at William.
But like I mentioned earlier, I was a man who had gone through a lot, so this was not as scary as it sounded, although meeting my real mother was a scenario I never pictured. She never wanted me, but I still wanted to see her. I wanted to ask her why she gave me up, and why she risked my life.Taking a deep breath, I walked in; everyone seemed to have left, and from here, I could see a man, to be precise, a priest, by the end of the room; he was facing the other side, so he didn't see me.Swallowing my saliva, I walked up to the front, and reaching there, I again swallowed my saliva before I called his name.“My son,” he answered without looking at me, he thought I was just some random church member, “we had closed for the day,” he said confirming my thoughts. “Do you need prayers? I…” his jaw dropped as he turned and faced me, he didn't say anything for a moment and I remained silent as well.We stood there without saying anything to each other for a moment before he pointed for me t
~HUDSON~I won't lie. I was impressed; I never thought Maddison was this cunning, but for her to think I would give in because she threatened to take me to jail? I mean, sure, she said she was going to lie that I forced her to sign the contract, and the public would obviously believe her, but I was a man. With what I've gone through, prison didn't scare me, not even a bit.“Leave.” I said, and she looked shocked like she expected me to shiver hearing prison, “Now. Before I change my mind.” I said in a warning tone, and she said I was making a mistake.“You have seventy-two hours to decide; this is only because you're too handsome, and I want you in our child's life. Don't take it for granted.” She said before she turned and left, I waited for her to close the door before I yelled; I didn't want her to think her little threats were getting to me.But shit, Mom and Maddison were now working together. What if they tried to harm Anastasia or Ivy? I knew what my mom was capable of, and for
~ANASTASIA~I still couldn't believe William was here on his knees begging for my forgiveness. I felt disgusted and, at the same time, confused that I almost left when he held me back by my leg, begging that I hear him out.“William?”“Please, Ana, please.”“The baby is not yours,” I said, looking away from him as he was still on his knees, he looked like he meant it, and I didn't want to pity him. “It's Hudsons’.”“W-what?” I slowly looked back at him and saw a smile on his lips; William never smiled, so I was shocked. “There is really a baby,” he sounded unsure, he then raised his hand and almost touched my belly, but I quickly moved away.“I'm saying it's not your baby. Why are you here, William?” I asked, looking to the other side as I calmed myself.“I know it's mine; you can't get pregnant; your marriage is not even a month old, and besides, you can't let any man touch you; you—”“You think I still love you?” I slowly turned and faced him; the smile had now widened. “News flash: